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Crisis on Infinite Earths
The Crisis on Infinite Earths was a major conflict that spanned the multiverse itself. The conflict involved many of the different superheroes and supervillains of all of the different Earths. __TOC__ Background Information By the time of DC's "50th anniversary” in 1985, DC had concluded that the multiverse concept had run its course. While only three or four of the multiple Earths were really significant in any ongoing sense, the DC Universe felt far less cohesive than the Marvel Universe and some editors felt the multiple Earths were just too convoluted, particularly for newer readers. Some of this proliferation was the result of DC's acquisition of characters from other publishers (Charlton, Fawcett, and Quality, etc.). These publisher sets all inhabited their own parallel Earths. The solution was a 12-issue mini-series called: "Crisis on Infinite Earths" (April, 1985 -- March, 1986) which focused on a cosmic threat that destroyed nearly all of the parallel Earths and collapsed the remaining ones into a "single, unified Earth" and should be referred to as "Post-Crisis continuity." The history of this ‘new universe’ was chronicled in a two-issue perfect-bound mini-series called "History of the DC Universe" (1986), followed by high-profile "reboots" of Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman. Their doppelgängers were swept away, and with them, many of the trappings that were introduced during the Silver Age that spawned the multiple Earths. An "additional" Chapter in the ’Crisis on Infinite Earths’ story is revealed in: "Legends of the DC Universe: Crisis on Infinite Earths" (1999). This one-shot was written by Marv Wolfman, who wrote the original maxi-series. This story has not been officially labeled canon. So at this point, it is up to the reader. This issue is intended to be read after issue #4 of Crisis on Infinite Earths. This chronology is assembled below contains information from all timelines and all continuities, the Crisis on Infinite Earths a 12-issue series as the foundation. What follows is meant to provide an overview of both publishing events, and fictional events. The Crisis on Infinite Earths In the Beginning… The Crisis New Earth is Formed Alternate Universes That Appear in the Crisis * Earth-One, (or Earth-1A from the perspective of the Superfriends) home of the Justice League of America, the Teen Titans, the Doom Patrol, The Outsiders, and most Silver Age / Bronze Age heroes. * Earth-Two, home of the Justice Society of America, the All-Star Squadron, Infinity, Inc., and most Golden Age heroes. * Earth-Three, home of the Crime Syndicate, which was destroyed in the first issue. * Earth-Four, home of the Charlton Comics heroes such as Blue Beetle, Captain Atom, and The Question. * Earth-Six, home of Lady Quark, who was the only survivor of that world. * Earth-D, home of the racially diverse Justice Alliance of America, which was destroyed in the later-produced Legends Of The DC Universe tie-in story.See post-crisis story: Legends of the DC Universe: Crisis on Infinite Earths (February, 1999). * Earth-S, home of Captain Marvel and heroes owned by Fawcett Comics. * Earth-X, home of the Freedom Fighters and heroes owned by Quality Comics. * Earth-Prime, DC Comics' analog of "the real world", from which Superboy-Prime came, seen mostly in the Superman title tie-in stories. * Pariah's Universe, which was destroyed in a flashback. * New Earth, a unique universe, being an amalgamation of Earth-One, Earth-Two, Earth-Four, Earth-S and Earth-X as a result of the multiverse partially collapsing during the Crisis, thereby creating a new reality. Main character(s) * Monitor * Harbinger * Pariah * Superman of Earth-One * Superman of Earth-Two * Superboy from Earth-Prime * Alexander Luthor Jr. of Earth-Three * Flash (Barry Allen) * Supergirl * Psycho-Pirate * Anti-Monitor ''Crisis on Infinite Earths'' Limited Series Crisis on Infinite Earths was a twelve-issue limited series published from April of 1985 until March of 1986. Written by Marv Wolfman and penciled by George Pérez, it represents one of the most significant landmark events of the DC Universe. Commonly referred to simply as the Crisis, this series effectively negated the continuity supplied during the publishing eras known as the Golden Age and Silver Age of comics. The title featured virtually every known character in the DC Universe and culminated in the deaths of several key characters including the Silver Age Supergirl and the Flash. In 2006, a sequel series entitled Infinite Crisis illustrated the ramifications wrought by the events chronicled in the original Crisis series. * Crisis on Infinite Earths, #1 (April 1985): "The Summoning!" * Crisis on Infinite Earths, #2 (May 1985): "Time and Time Again!" * Crisis on Infinite Earths, #3 (June 1985): "Oblivion Upon Us" * Crisis on Infinite Earths, #4 (July 1985): "And Thus Shall the World Die!" * Crisis on Infinite Earths, #5 (August 1985): "Worlds in Limbo" * Crisis on Infinite Earths, #6 (September 1985): "3 Earths! 3 Deaths!" * Crisis on Infinite Earths, #7 (October 1985): "Beyond the Silent Night" * Crisis on Infinite Earths, #8 (November 1985) "A Flash of the Lightning!" * Crisis on Infinite Earths, #9 (December 1985): "War Zone" * Crisis on Infinite Earths, #10 (January 1986): "The Monitor Tapes..." * Crisis on Infinite Earths, #11 (February 1986): "Aftershock" * Crisis on Infinite Earths, #12 (March 1986): "Final Crisis" Tie-ins Comics for Crisis on Infinite Earths The following comic book issues were labeled as part of the 'crossover.' Their covers contained a banner that read "Special Crisis Cross-Over", along with the logo for DC's fiftieth anniversary. * All-Star Squadron, #50–56 (October 1985 - April, 1986) * Amethyst, #13 (February, 1986) * DC Comics Presents, #86–88 (October - December 1985) * The Fury of Firestorm - The Nuclear Man, #41–42 (November - December, 1985) * Green Lantern, #194–198 (November, 1985 - March, 1986) * Infinity Inc., #18–24 (September, 1985 - March, 1986) * Infinity Inc. Annual, #1 (December, 1985) * Justice League of America, #244–245 (November - December, 1985) * Justice League of America Annual, #3 (November, 1985) * JLA: Incarnations, #5 (November, 2001) * Legion of Super-Heroes, Vol 3 #18 (January, 1986) * The Losers Special, #1 (August, 1985) * The New Teen Titans, (vol. 2) #13–15 (October, 1985 - December, 1985) * The Omega Men, #31 (October, 1985) * Superman, #414–415 (December, 1985 - January 1986) * Swamp Thing, #46 (March, 1986) * Warlord, #97 (September, 1985) * Wonder Woman, #327–329 (September, 1985 - February, 1986) * Legends of the DC Universe: Crisis on Infinite Earths, #1 (February, 1999) Collected editions * Crisis on Infinite Earths, #1–12 (April 1985 – March 1986) was published in hardcover (December 1998; ISBN 1-56389-434-3) and trade paperback (January 2001; ISBN 1-56389-750-4) editions, with cover art by George Pérez and Alex Ross. * Crisis on Infinite Earths: The Absolute Edition (November 2005; ISBN 1-4012-0712-X) is a slipcased, hardcover edition. The first volume reprints the limited series, and the second volume includes scripts, commentaries, retrospectives, Official Crisis on Infinite Earths Index, and Official Crisis on Infinite Earths Cross-Over Index. * Crisis on Infinite Earths Deluxe Edition (October 2015, ISBN 1401258417). Includes the series and the two-issue series History of the DC Universe, alongside other bonus material. Crisis on Infinite Earths Companion Deluxe Edition Vol. 1 (November 2018, ISBN 1401274595). Compiles the tie-in stories released alongside the series. Notes *''Crisis on Infinite Earths # 3'' was reprinted in Superamigos # 24. That story, plus several other stories have been referenced in Super Friends comics. Because of this, the Crisis is canon from the perspective of the Superfriends Universe. This does not mean that Earth-1A and Earth-One are one and the same reality, but it does mean they share a common history, and were even involved with an identical Crisis. *The Crisis on Infinite Earths first appeared in Crisis on Infinite Earths, #1 (April 1985).For more information about that DC comic book, click here. * Krona's tale was originally told in Green Lantern, #40 (October, 1965). It was retold in Crisis on Infinite Earths, #7 (October, 1985). * Starting with issue Green Lantern, #195 (December 1985) we are given much need back story on Hal Jordan, the Guardians and the Green Lanterns during the 'Crisis'. * We also see in issue #195, John Stewart fighting alongside Cyborg, Firebrand, Psimon, Bat Lash, Jonah Hex, Scalphunter, Nighthawk and Johnny Thunder in the 19th century. This battle parallels Crisis on Infinite Earths, #3 (June, 1985) where the same battle is revealed. *Background on why John Stewart is the official Green Lantern in Crisis #3 and why Guy Gardner was appointed to Green Lantern status in Crisis #9: ** According to Green Lantern, #87 (December, 1971) Guy Gardner was the original backup for Hal Jordan. He was however injured after being hit by a bus. At that time, the Guardians knew that Hal would eventually be replaced and appointed a second backup, John Stewart. ** Fast forward a few years later, and Gardner was put into a coma by an exploding Power Battery in Green Lantern, #116 (May, 1979). ** A few years later, Hal Jordan retired from the Green Lantern Corps in Green Lantern, #181 (October, 1984). ** Because Gardner was still in a coma, John Stewart then assumed the role as official Green Lantern of Sector 2814 since Green Lantern, #182 (November, 1984). ** During the Crisis on Infinite Earths, Guy Gardner was awakened from his coma and became an official new 'Green Lantern' as revealed in Crisis on Infinite Earths, #9 (December, 1985). He was appointed for a special task by a only few the Guardians that remained optimistic. ** Shortly following Gardner's appointment, the Central Power Battery of Oa was destroyed by the Anti-Monitor in Green Lantern, #194 (November, 1985). Its destruction was referenced again in Crisis on Infinite Earths, #2 (May, 1985). External Links *Crisis on Infinite Earths at the DC Database *Crisis on Infinite Earths at Wikipedia References }} Category:Events Category:Conflicts Category:DC Comics Category:Super Amigos